Boreal wanderers like redpolls, siskins and grosbeaks may be headed for your feeders this winter
Peterborough Examiner – November 14, 2025 – by Drew Monkman
Like every fall, I’ve been busy keeping up with the voracious appetites of both migrant and resident birds flocking to our yard and feeders. In addition to our regular customers like chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches, cardinals and mourning doves, American goldfinches have been descending in droves, devouring sunflower and nyger seeds at an unprecedented rate. The most interesting action, however, has been happening on the ground, where I scatter white millet – one of the least expensive seeds – beneath the feeders and along the edges of nearby shrubs and cedars.
Our first white-throated sparrow appeared on September 14 — my earliest backyard date ever. Within three days, their numbers had jumped to 40, and by September 21 there were at least 65 – a record for our yard. The first dark-eyed junco arrived on schedule on October 15, followed by a surge to 40 birds a week later. At least some of the juncos are likely to remain all winter.
Adding to the excitement were five fox sparrows — regular in small numbers, but always a treat to see — along with two white-crowned sparrows and an eastern towhee. As of early this week, three white-throats and three fox sparrows are still present, my latest yard dates ever for both species. Sadly, I expect them to continue on to their wintering grounds south of the border any day now.
Winter finches
Even though migrants like sparrows have mostly departed, there’s a good chance you’ll be seeing some special visitors at your feeders later this fall or winter. According to Tyler Hoar’s annual “Winter Finch Forecast”, the late fall and winter of 2025–26 should bring several species of “winter finches” to the Kawarthas and central Ontario. This term refers to highly nomadic northern birds such as redpolls, siskins, purple finches, crossbills and both pine and evening grosbeaks.
Some winters, these finches are completely absent from our region; other years, they can empty feeders in a matter of hours.
Why the dramatic fluctuations? The short answer lies in the state of the wild food crop in the north. Winter finches move southward—or sometimes east or west—when food is scarce in their boreal breeding grounds of northern Ontario and Quebec.
Their preferred foods include the seeds and berries of birch, alder, American mountain-ash, pine, tamarack, and spruce. When these crops are abundant, the birds stay put. But when supplies fail, they can travel by the thousands in search of better feeding grounds – a natural, dramatic response to resource cycles.
To understand the difference a food source makes, consider these striking observations by researcher Tyler Hoar: In the northern Ontario boreal forest, he counted over 1,100 white-winged crossbills in 2024 when tamarack cones were abundant. In the exact same location one year later (2025), with the cone crop entirely absent, he observed a mere five—a powerful illustration of how these birds are slaves to the trees on which they depend.
Much of what we know about the yearly status of seed and berry crops comes from foresters, volunteer naturalists, and staff with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, whose observations help shape each year’s forecast.
General forecast
With mostly poor seed and cone crops across the boreal forest—from central Quebec westward to Manitoba—this winter has the potential to produce the biggest flight year (a mass movement of birds) since 2020–2021. Key winter food trees such as white spruce, tamarack, and white birch have almost completely failed to produce new seeds over vast areas.
Ironically, many bird populations themselves appear to be strong. Widespread spruce budworm outbreaks from Manitoba eastward provided an abundance of caterpillars this summer—ideal food for the chicks of evening grosbeaks, pine siskins, purple finches, and many warblers.
Individual forecasts
1.Pine grosbeak: There should be a small to moderate flight of pine grosbeaks into central Ontario this winter. The berry crop of American mountain-ash in the boreal forest is below average to poor.
Individuals wandering southward will look for European mountain-ash berries and small ornamental crab-apples, even in urban areas. A few birds might come to feeders, too, where they prefer black oil sunflower seeds.
2. Purple finch: Most purple finches will migrate south out of eastern Canada this winter. For weeks now, birders have been documenting signs of this southward push. At feeders, purple finches prefer black oil sunflower seeds.
3. Redpoll: Prepare for a winter spectacle: There is a high probability of a strong flight of redpolls south out of the food-poor boreal forest into central and southern Ontario. Watch for redpolls on birches (including trees in urban areas), in weedy fields, and at bird feeders offering nyger seed, hulled sunflower seed and millet. In 2024, common redpoll, hoary redpoll and the lesser redpoll in Europe were all lumped into the same species, now simply called redpoll.
4. Pine siskin: Areas affected by spruce budworm infestations provided bountiful food for siskins during the breeding season, but these same areas now have a very poor cone crop. Siskins that bred in these areas will be on the move southward. An above-average eastern white cedar crop in parts of central Ontario should attract some flocks. Keep an eye out for this entertaining, high-energy species at your feeders, where they show a clear preference for nyger seeds dispensed from silo or sock feeders.
5. Evening grosbeak: Like the other budworm-loving finches, evening grosbeaks had a very successful breeding season. Yet, the late fall and winter food sources they rely on—such as the fruit of pin cherry and mountain-ash—are currently quite poor.
There should therefore be a moderate flight of evening grosbeaks southward this fall. At platform feeders, evening grosbeaks prefer black oil sunflower seeds. They are also attracted to maple and ash trees still holding seeds and to staghorn sumac. Listen for their distinctive, house sparrow-like calls
6. Crossbills: There should be modest numbers of red crossbills in Algonquin Provincial Park and possibly south into the Kawarthas this winter. As for white-winged crossbills, we can expect scattered flocks and individuals randomly moving around central and southern Ontario in search of suitable food sources. They will focus on any cone-laden spruces, including the ornamental varieties like blue spruce found in urban settings. Crossbills don’t usually come to feeders.
The honorary finch: Bohemian waxwings
Movements of bohemian waxwings are often linked to the boreal finches. With below-average crops of berries and fruits in the north, bohemians should be moving into their traditional wintering areas in central Ontario by late fall or early winter. These elegant, crested birds will be targeting a variety of fruit, showing a particular fondness for European mountain-ash, ornamental crab-apples, and highbush cranberries. Even the invasive European buckthorn may attract their attention.
However, because of the exceptionally dry summer and fall we’ve experienced, it’s not clear whether there’s sufficient fruit on many of these trees to keep the birds here. In addition to watching for large flocks of this species, look for individuals hidden within flocks of their smaller cousins, the cedar waxwings.
If this year’s forecast is accurate – forecasting is as much an art as a science – the winter season for bird lovers will be highly entertaining. Keep your feeders stocked, ears alert (don’t forget Merlin Sound ID), and your eyes turned toward spruces, cedars, birches and ornamental berry trees. These wandering flocks of winter finches are a vivid reminder that the life of the boreal forest is never static and often brings the remote northern wilderness right to our own backyards and neighbourhoods. Follow finch wanderings this fall and winter on eBird and on the Finch Research Network at https://finchnetwork.org/
